Quote Originally Posted by heatherhead42
Thank you!
I misunderstood--I thought heat tape and UTH were the same thing. I need to read up more on the distinction.
So we need to order some heat tape with a thermostat (right? Or do I not need a thermostat with heat tape?).
In the meantime, what we've done is purchase a CHE and are carefully monitoring temps (we'll probably set an alarm and get up a couple times during the night, too) to see if we can get the ambient temp right at least. We've also left the heating pad (the sort used for people, which is a temporary band-aid solution) under the tank (on the warm side) for now--is this a bad idea, without a thermostat?
We knew we weren't completely set up yet, but we thought we were close enough to start. Now I see it would have been better to wait and test the set-up for a while before bringing Sammy home. We are learning, though, and I seriously appreciate the advice and help.
Thank you.
Heather
You will need a thermostat regardless of the heating device you will chose, this is the only way to maintain proper temp and avoid over-heating that could burn your BP

Here is a place where you can order thermostat and Flexwatt http://www.reptilebasics.com/store/home.php?cat=250
They will pre-wire the flexwatt if you want to or you can order it and wire it yourself.
Human heat pad are not designed to run 24/7 or designed for the use with reptiles I would be concerned that the temp could get pretty high.